5 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2015

#2 Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – G1 Climax final

There is extensive history between these two men. They were tag team partners during NJPW’s darker years of the early 2000s, and both achieved great success over the years. But while Nakamura represented NJPW’s traditions and past as a ‘realistic’ shootfighting-inspired striker, Tanahashi was the high-flyer that represented the company’s future.

They had clashed many times over the years, and Nakamura was for a time seen as on a level beneath Tanahashi. So when these two men fought in NJPW’s prestigious G1 Climax, it was a match for the ages.

Nakamura and Tanahashi had off-the-charts chemistry with each other, wrestling like machines. Nakamura’s strikes were as devastating as ever, and at one point hit a Boma Ye/Kinshasa that looked so devastating it looked like it could’ve taken Tanahashi’s head off.

Despite all those vicious and realistic strikes, Tanahashi proved once again why he’s the ace. He used classic wrestling psychology to weaken Nakamura’s legs, including hitting several dragon screw leg whips throughout the match.

Furthermore, Tanahashi proved that he is some kind of wrestling Superman. Despite being almost 40 years old, Tanahashi was hitting dives and body splashes out of the ring like he had always done. He even hit a high fly flow from the top rope while Nakamura was balancing on the second ropes. The man is like a Japanese Kurt Angle, wrestling at such an incredible standard yet never seeming to suffer any adverse effects.

Before watching this match, I was convinced that both Tanahashi and Nakamura are two of the biggest stars in Japan. After it ended, I was convinced that Tanahashi is one of the toughest and best-conditioned wrestlers on the entire planet.

And if the crowd reaction was any indicator, thousands upon thousands of Japanese fans watching live agree with that statement.